Why do turtles become cold stunned?

Sea turtles are ectotherms (cold-blooded), meaning that they can not internally maintain their body temperature and must absorb heat from the surrounding environment to stay warm. If exposed to temperatures under 10ºC for a prolonged time, sea turtles will suffer from “cold-stunning”, or hypothermia. When this happens, the turtles will suffer from many problems, increasing a decreased metabolic rate, slow heart beat, feeling lazy, for instance. If turtles remain cold for too long, they can die as their body literally shuts down.

Green sea turtle swimming in the blue, Maldives. Image. — Green sea turtle swimming in warm tropical water in Maldives.

References:

Anderson, E. T., Harms, C. A., Stringer, E. M., & Cluse, W. M. (2011). Evaluation of hematology and serum biochemistry of cold-stunned green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) in North Carolina, USA. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 42(2), 247-255

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Sea Turtles FAQ - The Answers to All Your Sea Turtle Questions

How long can sea turtles hold their breath?

Male hawksbill popping head above surface for air, Maldives. Image. — Marvin, male hawksbill, coming up for a breathe, Maldives.

Sea turtles can hold their breath for several hours, depending on their level of activity.

If they are sleeping, they can remain underwater for several hours. In cold water during winter, when they are effectively hibernating, they can hold their breath for up to 7 hours. This involves very little movement.

Although turtles can hold their breath for 45 minutes to one hour during routine activity, they normally dive for 4-5 minutes and surfaces to breathe for a few seconds in between dives.

However, a stressed turtle, entangled in a ghost net for instance, quickly uses up oxygen stored within its body and may drown within minutes if it cannot reach the surface.

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References:

Hays GC, Akesson S, Broderick AC, Glen F, Godley BJ, Luschi P, Martin C, Metcalfe JD & Papi F 2001. The diving behaviour of green turtles undertaking oceanic migration to and from Ascension Island: dive durations, dive profiles and depth distribution. Journal of Experimental Biology 204: 4093-4098.
Hays GC, Hochscheid S, Broderick AC, Godley BJ & Metcalfe JD 2000. Diving behaviour of green turtles: dive depth, dive duration and activity levels. Marine Ecology Progress Series 208: 297-298.
Hochscheid S, Bentivegna F & Hays GC 2005. First records of dive durations for a hibernating sea turtle. Biology Letters 1: 82-86.
Lutz PL and Musik JA (eds.) 1996. The Biology of Sea Turtles Volume I. CRC Press.

How long can sea turtles live?

The actual documentation of a sea turtle’s age in the wild is difficult or nearly impossible. Individual turtles can be tracked for a shorter time of six month to three years with the help of satellite transmitters. Longterm studies rely on capture-recapture principle, just like our turtle photo id project. Each photo of a turtle represents a recapture event documenting that the individual is still alive.

A study of nesting green turtles in Hawaii observed female turtles returning to nest for up to 38 years after they were first identified. Assuming the average age at first nesting activity of 24 years, this would show that green turtles can live to up to at least 62 years.

Similar estimates have been made for loggerhead turtles.

An adult green turtle resting on a reef in Maldives, image — An adult green turtle

Hawksbill turtle resting on the reef, Maldives — An adult hawksbill turtle

References:

Dodd C 1988. Synopsis of the biological data on the loggerhead sea turtle. Ecology 88.
Humburg IH and Balazs GH 2014. Forty Years of Research: Recovery Records of Green Turtles Observed or Originally Tagged at French Frigate Shoals in Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, 1973-2013. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-PIFSC-40.

How do you tell whether a turtle is male or female?

When sea turtles are juveniles, it is very difficult to tell their sex by eye as they do not differ externally. However, after reaching sexual maturity male sea turtles develop a long tail, which houses the reproductive organ. The tail may extend past the hind flippers.

Female turtles have a short tail, which generally doesn’t extend more than 10 cm (4 inches) past the edge of the carapace. Male sea turtles (except leatherbacks) have elongated, curved claws on their front flippers to help them grasp the female when mating.

The sex of a sea turtle embryo is determined by the temperature of the sand: warm temperatures result in more females while cooler temperatures result in more males.

How big do sea turtles get?

The olive and kemp’s ridley sea turtles are the smallest species, growing only to about 70 cm (just over 2 feet) in shell length and weighing up to 45 kg (100 lbs). Leatherbacks are the largest sea turtles. On average leatherbacks measure 1.5 – 2m (4-6 ft) long and weigh 300 – 500 kg (660 to 1,100 lbs). The largest leatherback ever recorded was 2,56 m (8.4 ft) long and weighed 916 kg (2,019 lbs) !

Kemp’s Ridley

55.6-66.0 cm carapace length, weight range of 25-54 kg for nesting females.

References:

Marquez-M R 1994. Synopsis of Biological Data on the Kemp’s Ridley Turtle, Lepidochelys kempi (Garman, 1880). NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-343.

Olive Ridley

Female Oliver ridley turtle nesting on the beach during arribada — Nesting female olive ridley turtle ©Susie Gibson.

Curved carapace length 52.5-80.0 cm, weight less than 50 kg (average 35.7 kg) for nesting females.

References:

Qureshi M 2006. Sea turtles in Pakistan. In: Shanker K and Choudhury BC (Eds.). Marine Turtles of the Indian Sub- continent. Heydarabad: India Universities Press, pp. 217–224.Reichart HA 1993.
Reichart HA 1993. Synopsis of biological data on the olive ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys olivacea (Eschscholtz 1829) in the western Atlantic. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-336.

Hawksbills

Adult male hawksbill turtle swimming in the blue, Maldives. Image — Adult male hawksbill, Maldives.

Nesting females reported between 53.3 and 95.5 cm carapace length, with weight between 27.2 and 86.2 kg.

References:

Witzell WN 1983. Synopsis of biological data on the hawksbill turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata (Linnaeus, 1766). No. 137. Food & Agriculture Org.

Green turtles

Nesting green females reported curved carapace length 75-134 cm, weight (after egg deposition) 45-250 kg (!).

References:

Hirth HF 1997. Synopsis of the Biological Data on the Green Turtle Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1758). Vol. 2. Fish and Wildlife Service, US Department of the Interior.

Flatbacks

Ones study (Ref. 1) found nesting females have a mean curved carapace length 86.3 cm, and mean weight of 67.4 kg. Another study (Ref. 2) found flatbacks to be between 87.5-96.5 cm.

References:

Schäuble C, Kennett R and Winderlich S 2006. Flatback Turtle (Natator depressus) nesting at Field Island, Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia, 1990-2001. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 5: 188-194.
Limpus CJ 1971. The Flatback Turtle, Chelonia depressa Garman in Southeast Queensland, Australia. Herpetologica 27: 431-446.

Loggerheads

The largest loggerhead was reported stranded in 1938 on the welsh coast (Tenby, Pembrokshire) with a carapace length of 146.7 cm. The turtle was highly emaciated and missing a front flipper. It was reported to weigh only 27.8 kg, which is severely underweight for a turtle of that size. On average nesting and therefore adult female loggerheads have a curved carapace length of 65.1-114.9 cm and weigh between 40.0 and 180.7 kg. Males fall into the same size range (79.0-104.0 cm curved carapace length).

References:

Brongersma LD 1972. European Atlantic turtles. Zoologische Verhandlingen 121, Leiden.
Dodd C 1988. Synopsis of the biological data on the loggerhead sea turtle. Ecology 88: 1-119.

Leatherbacks

Leatherback Turtle, Claudia Lombard, USFWS — Adult leatherback turtle ©Claudia Lombard, USFWS.

143.8-169.5 cm curved carapace length, weight 259-506 kg recorded for nesting females all around the world. Largest ever recorded specimen was found dead on a beach on the coast of Wales. The adult male turtle weighed 916 kg and its shell was 256.5 cm long. An autopsy revealed that it had drowned.

References:

Eckert KL and Luginbuhl C 1988. Death of a Giant. Marine Turtle Newsletter 43: 2-3.
Eckert KL, Wallace BP, Frazier JG, Eckert SA and Pritchard PCH 2012. Synopsis of the Biological Data on the Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea). Biological Technical Publication BTP-R4015-2012, US Fish & Wildlife Service.